new civil aviation policy airasia visatara
new civil aviation policy airasia visataraReuters file

AirAsia and AirAsia X are offering 20 percent discount on fares spread across the Group's flights to over 120 destinations in 24 countries. The Diwali festival offer is available across its network in Thailand, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

"This special promo from AirAsia will run from 11 to 17 July for immediate travel from 18 July to 24 November 2016," the company said in a statement.

The budget air carrier serves these countries through AirAsia India, AirAsia Malaysia, Malaysia AirAsia X, AirAsia Thailand, Thai AirAsia X, AirAsia Indonesia and AirAsia Philippines.

The 20 percent discount offer has been positioned to lure passengers who are planning their year-end holidays or a "spontaneous getaway to many exciting destinations" on AirAsia's network, according to Amar Abrol, CEO, AirAsia India.

AirAsia and AirAsia X started operations in 2001 and 2007, respectively.

The AirAsia Group has a fleet of 170 aircraft. It flew 13.9 million passengers in the first quarter ended March 2016 on a year-on-year basis with a passenger load factor of 86 percent.

It is planning a China foray besides exploring options to list its shares on Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

AirAsia India, which is a joint venture between AirAsia and the Tatas, has a market share of about 2.2 percent in the burgeoning Indian domestic air traffic market. It has a fleet of six aircraft. The Tata Group holds 49 percent stake in the joint venture after buying 7.94 percent held by Arun Bhatia's Telestra Tradeplace.

AirAsia Berhad holds about 49 percent share while the remaining 2 percent is held by S Ramadorai (chairman) and R Venkataramanan, executives working at Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group. The agreement for the changed shareholding was signed in March this year. 

AirAsia India reported a threefold increase in revenues to Rs. 208.46 crore while net loss doubled to Rs. 38.2 crore during the December 2015 quarter.